Ingalls Creek — Monday, Jun. 28, 2010

Central Cascades > Blewett Pass

Just back from a very pleasant midweek backpack before July 4th weekend. Lots of flowers, and few bugs and people past Falls Creek. Get out there quick! We took I-90 from Seattle, then 97 north toward Leavenworth, turning left onto Ingalls Creek Road roughly 6 miles south of the junction with 2/97 linking Leavenworth and Cashmere. Our initial plan was to do a semi-loop, which would require crossing Ingalls Creek at Hardscrabble (Trail 1219) going up, circling back around the south side of Navaho Mountain, then coming down Falls Creek (Trail 1216) before heading back out. However Ingalls Creek at both crossings was running fast and well above knee height, so we made it a backpack up Ingalls Creek Trail instead. It turned out wonderfully! Camp Night 1: About a half hour short of Cascade Cr. (Trail 1217), a nice site with a large, highbacked rough-built log bench next to the kitchen area. The very few mosquitoes here were not a problem - and essentially none further up the trail after the first night's camp. Camp Night 2: About 15 minutes at a horse camp past Turnpike Cr. (Trail 1391). Parts of the trail are clogged with downed timber, particularly between Cascade Creek and the Turnpike Creek Trail. At one point on the way up we took a longish detour through brush, but on the way back we were able to find our way through all the trail obstructions, with minimal detouring. Hiking toward camp we saw just one hiker beyond Falls Creek (remember this is the midweek and before July 4th weekend). Other than that we were blissfully alone for the last two nights & days. The trail beyond the Turnpike junction rewarded us with beautiful 360-degree views of the valley of Ingalls Creek behind and the peaks ahead and to each side. In the morning we walked without our packs up Ingalls Cr. Trail to the junction with the Longs Pass Trail and then about 20 minutes beyond, with views of the pinnacled flanks of Mt. Stuart above us. This area has lots of songbird-sheltering brush and delightful flowers we can appreciate but not name. Especially around Turnpike we saw many clusters of trilliums in full bloom, both the white flowering and purple-and-gold kind. We then walked back to camp to pick up our packs and begin our way back out. Camp Night 3: We hit our last camp by 3PM at a spot we'd targeted on the way up. Camp was in a nice treed area opening out to Ingalls Cr., within easy view of the falls of Crystal Creek coming off the peaks to the northwest, and just west of Cascade Creek. We boiled water for coffee and sat in the sun watching some sort of sharp-billed waterbird and a posse of 5 little furball-like young ones came swimming by on the far side of the creek. They fed just below the surface of the water to a point just below us, then turned to make their way upstream and out of sight. Their swimming ability is amazing - the ducklings looked like they were just skipping along on top of the swiftly moving water. The next morning we hiked out to our car, starting at 7:45 and getting out by noon. This was our warmest morning, though night-time temps never even approached freezing. When we passed Falls Creek we saw that the water level had dropped perhaps 10 inches, as a log across the creek was no longer buried under fast water. Who knows when the creek will be passable, but maybe it'll be soon. A word about bugs -- parts of the trail are overgrown, and one of us did spot a single tick on outer clothing. So, check for ticks when you get out!